A Charlotte news station reported on Monday that the Ritz-Carlton, one of prosperous uptown Charlotte's swankiest hotels, added what looks suspiciously like a black tax to the lobby bar tabs of patrons in town last week for the CIAA, the popular mega-tournament for basketball teams at historically black colleges and universities from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

One of the very best old-time sports columnists was named Jimmy Cannon. He wrote after Hemingway, tough-guy style, and Jimmy had a lot of original devices, too. One was an occasional column he'd do in what I called the second person impersonal. For example, my favorite was about an aging hitting star when he was in a slump. Cannon began: "Your name is Stan Musial and all your bats are broken."

Now, that's how you start a column. And so, in honor of Jimmy Cannon: Your name is Alex Rodriguez, and nobody likes you.

Thousands of people are expected to start long-distance treks on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the other jewels of American hiking this year. That’s inspired in part by the recent Oscar-nominated movie adaptation of a trail memoir called “Wild.”

Major league baseball legend Minnie Miñoso, known as the Cuban Comet and Mr. White Sox, has died. Miñoso, who hailed from Havana, Cuba, played 12 of his 17 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, after getting his start in the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1949.

The left fielder hit 135 homers and 808 RBIs for the White Sox. His number 9 was retired by the team in 1983, and today there's a statue of Miñoso at the field where the White Sox play.